This invention relates to golf clubs, particularly to golf putters with a high capacity selectable weight and an adjustable balance system.
The proliferation of golf putters in the market suggests that an all purpose putter suitable for most golfers is still being sought. Putter designs such as blade, mallet, cylindrical, perimeter weighted, plastic faced, spherical head, and adjustable weight, fueled the search for a better putter. Individual characteristics of height, weight, build, putting stroke, stance, gender, left handed or right handed, along with grass conditions, and moisture content, enter into the putter selection equation.
Furthermore, many advanced and professional golfers possess numerous putters in their collection. This suggests that individual requirements change from time to time, influenced in part by experience, age and physical abilities.
The prior art discloses a variety of methods for adjusting the club weight and balance or sweet spot of a golf putter. These include putter heads having an internal bore disposed along the longitudinal axis of the putter head. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,932, issued Oct. 16, 1990 to Thomas G. Anderson, discloses a putter head having a threaded bore. The user adjusts the horizontal center of gravity by inserting weighted bolts in the heel and the toe ends of the bore. He then replaces the bolts at either end with either lighter or heavier bolts.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,123, issued Sept. 7, 1976 to Peter A. Belmonst, discloses a golf iron having a substantially continuous, threaded bore from the toe to the heel of the club head. Plugs of selected weights are threadably mounted in the bore. The weight and location of the plugs determines the club's weight distribution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,266, issued May 9, 1989 to Timothy F. Tunstall, discloses a club head having bored ends. A threaded cylinder in the heel and toe of the head, receives and supports swing heights.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,846, issued to Sonnie J. Perkins, Aug. 26, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,005, issued Sept. 30, 1975 to Geza A. Piszel; U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,123, issued Sept. 7, 1976 to Peter A. Belmont; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,9872,684 issued Oct. 10, 1989, to Stephanie A. Dippel, disclose variations of this concept.
The Dippel and Tunstall reference offer only limited weight selection. The weights are custom-made to proprietary specifications and are not readily available. In practical use on the golf course, these weights can be easily misplaced or lost by the user, not to mention the inconvenience and cost of replacement. Furthermore, once a certain weight combination is chosen to satisfy the club weight requirement, shifting the center of gravity of these weights to satisfy dynamic balance, is limited or impossible. Some weights are restricted to or fixed to a location at each end.
in the Perkins and Belmost prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,846 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,123, threaded weight members are featured. Weights are forcefully rotated into the housing, plugged and sealed with sealant or are left unsecured. Weight adjustment is complex, and is not practical to use on a golf course. The threaded weights must be long in order that a sufficient number of full threads prevent cross-threading and/or tilting of the threaded weights. Dime-thin weight increments for a fine weight selection is not possible in these designs.
In yet other known prior art, the adjustable weight capacity lacks sufficient mass to effectively influence the dynamic balance of the putter during the putting stroke. Other prior art includes weights that are loose. These designs produce noise. The weights within the putter head feel loose.